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On the Rocks
The Earth has been gradually warming over at least the last 500 years, with the trend accelerating markedly during the 20th century, according to a new study published in the journal Nature, based on temperature data from underground rocks. Since 1500, the Earth’s temperature has increased by about one degree Celsius, with half that increase […]
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Is Kyoto Dead?
Is Kyoto dead? Grist readers cast their votes after reading a recent debate between Dan Lashof and David Victor. The results were evenly split, right down the middle. Optimism ran higher among younger observers. The “alive” contingent would have won had we included the votes of a high-school biology class in Boston that was asked […]
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Mercury Falling
1,931 advisories have been issued by state and local governments telling the public to limit consumption of fish caught in local water bodies due to mercury contamination 1 mercury-containing home fever thermometer can contaminate a 20-acre lake with enough mercury to provoke a fish consumption warning $3 – $5 is the extra cost of purchasing […]
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A plea to save one of America's great rivers
For more than 25 years, the Missouri River has been like a member of my family. Whether we were backpacking the Lolo Trail in Idaho, camping at Lemhi Pass on the Montana border, or canoeing through one of many thunderstorms, the Missouri River has brought my wife, children, and me together in more ways than […]
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Super Grover
Pres. Clinton is considering creating a new national monument in California that would protect more than 30 giant sequoia groves across 300,000 to 400,000 acres of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range. Yesterday Clinton asked Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman to review the status of the groves, which lie within the Sequoia National Forest, and recommend whether […]
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I Know, Let's Make Criminals Serve Time in Traffic Jams
Americans are now as concerned about sprawl as they are about crime, according to a new national survey released this week by the Pew Center for Civic Journalism. Eighteen percent of respondents across the country, including 26 percent of those from urban and suburban areas, cited sprawl and traffic as the most serious community problem, […]
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Global Warming: You Can Bank on It
Dexia, a Franco-Belgian banking group, yesterday announced plans to launch an investment fund aimed at reducing global warming. Operated in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the fund aims to raise $147.5 million to invest in energy-saving projects in central and eastern Europe. In addition to normal equity returns, investors will have […]
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We're on the Road to Nowhere Good
Despite the introduction of more eco-friendly cars such as the hybrid gas-electric Honda Insight, the American car fleet is more destructive to the environment than ever before, spewing record amounts of carbon dioxide, according to an annual ranking of new car models by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The 10 most fuel-efficient vehicles […]
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Cry Me a River
A massive cyanide spill that has spread through rivers in Romania, Hungary, and Yugoslavia is being billed as the worst environmental catastrophe since Chernobyl. The Jan. 30 spill from a Romanian gold-mining operation has eradicated virtually all river life on 250 miles of the Tisza River, and has now made its way into the Danube, […]
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Hangers — On!
Hangers Cleaners is trying to edge out dry cleaners with a new eco-friendly cleaning system that uses biodegradable soap dissolved in liquified carbon dioxide, a substance considered so safe it is used to inject the fizz into soft drinks. Traditional dry cleaners rely on an industrial solvent, perchloroethylene (perc), which is believed to cause cancer […]
